Local artist contemplates the Arab Spring Alina Gallo, a MECA MFA alumna with an academic background in writing and literature, is the artist behind "Rising," a modestly sized but stimulating collection of interpretive works — call them studies — that re-envision intersections of Western and Islamic culture both recent and ancient.

Louise Marianetti at Bert Gallery; plus, Brian Knep at RISD The starched woman in Louise Marianetti's 1942 painting holds a copy of the libretto to Verdi's Aida . Her blonde ringlets are decorated with flowers, a pair of blue birds, and a veil. But what sticks with you how she stares with her eerie blue eyes.